Micromax In 2B Review – Rightly justifies the price

Micromax is back with another smartphone in its new-aged In series i.e. Micromax In 2B, a successor to last year’s Micromax In 1B. The device packs in entry-level specifications with a Unisoc octa-core chipset although what makes it stand out is its near-stock Android 11 out-of-the-box and that too at a price tag commencing at Rs 7,999/-. Micromax In 2B has sturdy built-quality, average specifications but how does it perform when put against real-life tests?

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Here’s a detailed hands-on review on Micromax In 2B that you must read to know more about the entry-level smartphone from an Indian manufacturer.

Micromax In 2B is available for sale on Flipkart India at a price tag of Rs 7,999/- for its entry-level 4GB+64GB variant while the higher 6GB+64GB variant is up on sale for an additional Rs 1,000/- with an effective price tag of Rs 8,999/-. Get up to Rs 6,549/- off on using Flipkart’s exchange offer on eligible devices. You can choose between Green, Black, and Blue colour variants for Micromax In 2B. Of course, there are other deals and discounts as well including 10% off on using ICICI Bank and Axis Bank CC and DC6.

Before we talk in detail about the Micromax In 2B let’s see what the on-paper specs look like?

• Display: 16.56 cm (6.52 inch) HD+ LCD Display
• Processor: ARM Cortex A75 Octa Core
• Storage: 4GB/64GB, 6GB/64GB
• Software: Android 10
• Rear cameras: 13MP + 2MP AI camera
• Front camera: 5MP
• Battery: 5000 mAh
• Weight: 190g
• Dimensions: 164.31 x 75.68 x 8.63 mm

Looks like Micromax has taken some cues from Xiaomi when it comes to the design. The front looks dapper with a giant display and a waterdrop-shaped notch. Bezels on the right and left are considerable while the forehead is a bit thicker to accommodate earpieces. The chin is slightly on the thick side although the design goes in line with the price you are paying.

In 2B has a plastic unibody and the back panel has a gradient matte finish to it. Depending upon which colour you pick, the back panel shimmers and reflects hues of said colour that look flamboyant if you are outside and want to show up the new entry-level smartphone from Micromax. The back panel has a vertically stacked camera setup in a protruding camera bump, a circular-shaped fingerprint scanner, an In branding, and a rear-mounted loudspeaker. Yes, the loudspeaker is at the back just like the predecessor.

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The sides are curved and as the phone weighs about 190 grams, this enhances grip and usability although the display is huge so I don’t think you would be left out doing some gymnastics if you have small hands.

You get a triple card slot on the left side while the top is bald. There’s a power button and a volume rocker on the right side. Finally, you get a mic, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB-C 2.0 port at the bottom and that completes the list of ports and buttons mounted on the device.

Micromax In 2B sports a 6.52-inch IPS LCD panel with a 720×1600 pixels resolution and a 296 PPI density. The device has an 82.5 per cent STB ratio and has a 400 nits typical brightness.

If you want a large display, you get it with Micromax In 2B as it offers a giant 6.52-inch display, however, it is capped at 720p so anything above HD+ resolution is downscaled. This includes videos in FHD resolution as well. The panel itself isn’t any worse as the brightness is adequate at 400 nits. It isn’t sufficiently bright under direct sunlight but it is surely viewable. Since the price tag is low, you cannot expect the panel to get everything right. I measured 300 nits of brightness indoors while the brightness outdoors on auto mode is about 400 nits. For context, the panel is less bright than that of Realme Narzo 30A.

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Moving on, the viewing angles of the phone is average since it is a non-curved IPS LCD panel and not its OLED counterpart. You won’t have any issue as long as you read the screen head-on or at a slight off-axis.

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The device has an oleophobic coating on top which means smudges and fingerprint marks on the display will not stick. Bezels on the display are thick especially with the forehead and chin but all that pays off considering the panel is huge.

The panel has a cooler tint to it although you get multiple colour profiles to choose from. As said, getting a 1080p display instead of a 720p display would’ve been a lot better be it clear picture quality like no other. However, there aren’t any phones with FHD resolution when it comes to the price tag.

The entry-level Micromax In 2B sports a Unisoc T610 octa-core chipset clocked at a max 1.8GHz frequency. The chipset is fabricated on a 12nm node and has a Mali-G52 GPU flanked with it. There’s eMMC 5.1 storage with a sole 64GB configuration while the RAM variants include a 4GB and a 6GB module.

Micromax In 2B uses a Unisoc T*10 SoC instead of an entry-level Helio G35 SoC found on its predecessor. This has improved overall gameplay offering higher performance than the Helio G35 SoC to a great extent. Apparently, the Unisoc T*10 SoC produces more than twice the scores on single-core tests than the Helio G35 although it trails behind Helio G85. The same trend was spotted on multi-core tests as well.

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Apparently, this is also a result of a lightweight Android UI which is way better than the customized UI mounted on Xiaomi, Realme, and other OEMs.

When it comes to gaming performance, the In 2B runs at High Graphics and 30fps and Smooth 40fps which is good for entry-level devices. The chipset can handle games pretty much for a few hours before throttling the performance which is aggressive than Helio G85. You can still end up playing games for a few hours (1.5 to 2 hours) before you see major frame drops. Day-to-day tasks on In 2B are optimum and can handle a few apps at once including toggling between them and more.

I didn’t have any complaints with the chipset, only that it is still entry-level and no matter how many good things I write about the performance (which I won’t), the chipset is still entry-level and the performance is likewise.

Micromax In 2B runs on an Android 11-powered near-stock operating system. This makes Micromax In 2B one of the only few smartphones that now has stock Android and at a very cheap price tag. This means there’s no parade of pre-installed apps; ads and spam notifications are rare, and overall, it is a light interface with just a few chops from Micromax. This includes an Intelligent Assistant that lets you use the fingerprint scanner as a shortcut for a camera, flashlight, and so on.

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The In 2B from Micromax is an entry-level smartphone and its specifications say the same thing. When it comes to the optics, you have a dual rear camera setup. The primary module has a 13MP sensor along with PDAF, 27mm focal length, f/1.8 aperture, and 1.12micron pixel size while the second module is an auxiliary 2MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. Turn the phone and you get an average entry-level smartphone laden 5MP selfie snapper with f/2.2 aperture.

First up is the front camera which has received a significant downgrade from 8MP on In 1B to 5MP on this model. Unlike the rear camera performance which I will get to in a bit, the front camera captures decent shots when the lighting condition is the best. Say you are on a beach or simply outside your home on a bright sunny day, you can take decent selfies no doubt. However, inconsistent background blur, inadequate edge detection, and a bit of skin smoothening are applied to these shots that can make or break the results depending upon how and when you capture the photo.

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The rear camera setup on Micromax In 2B is its jewel aesthetically and its performance is fairly average. It won’t disappoint you but it isn’t the best-in-class either. I tried the various shooting modes on the rear camera since there’s just one (13MP) while the second one is an auxiliary depth sensor that works with the primary sensor for portrait shots.

The best shots on In 2B that you can capture are when you are actually snagging photos at daytime or when the light is ample. The sensor does take a few seconds for HDR shots but the results are good. The sensor can be used to capture portrait shots as well where it uses the depth sensor mentioned above. However, edge detection is a hit and miss on the phone so you could either end up illuminating the subject and blurring the background or you get inconsistent background blur.

Lowlight shots are good when not used. Even if you yank up the exposure duration, you will still end up with below-average photos. Even the night mode strapped with the camera doesn’t help much. This is probably because the sensor captures shots almost immediately so there’s no time for it to collect requisites and thus, the shots are below average.

The phone can also record videos at up to 1080p at 30fps. It is of course not very high resolution but it is what you get with almost all entry-level phones and Micromax In 2B is no different. It lacks any kind of stabilization which means all your shots will be shaky unless you have super steady hands or use a tripod or monopod instead. The colours on videos recorded using the cameras are muted and focusing on objects is a task you will have to do manually.

Micromax In 2B paired with a beefy battery pack with a 5,000 mAh non-removable Li-Po battery paired with a standard 10W charging speed. The battery is more than average and in line with the battery size like-priced smartphones offer. The battery life is really good at around a day and a half after moderate to light usage. The phone is capable of giving 7-8 hours of SOT which isn’t bad either. On average, the battery will last a day at the least unless you have already spent a few hours playing games which are battery-drenching tasks.

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The charging speed is capped at 10W and there’s no surprise here as every phone that I have tested in this price bracket is capped at 10W to the best of my knowledge. You can easily end up waiting for 2.3 to 3 hours for the battery to juice up from zero to 100 on a single charge. If you are someone who keeps the phone charging overnight, I don’t think charging In 2B will be a problem.

Audio

Unlike other entry-level smartphones where you either get a single bottom-firing loudspeaker or an earpiece acting as a sole speaker, Micromax In 2B has a single back-firing loudspeaker. Yes, you heard it right. The loudspeaker is mounted on the back just like old Samsung Corby smartphones.

The loudspeaker is audible for sure, however, it is technically firing at the back unlike front or bottom-firing speakers. This means even though the speaker is audible, the placement steals a tiny bit of it giving you a sound experience wanting for more. Its predecessor had the same speaker setup as well. There’s an earpiece speaker for calls and it is loud. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack mounted on In 2B which makes connecting earphones and headphones to the phone convenient.

Connectivity

Micromax In 2B is packed with a lot of connectivity features that go in line with the price tag. This includes Type-C USB 2.0 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Bluetooth v5.0 with LE and A2DP along dual-band Wi-Fi ac support. There’s GPS support which includes BDS, Galileo, Glonass, and A-GPS systems. There’s no NFC available on In 2B.

As per the cellular connectivity is a concern, Micromax In 2B supports 4G Dual VOLTE and VoWiFi. I have used a few SIM cards from different carriers to check out how the cellular connection works on Micromax In 2B and it is all the usual stuff. Call quality is good, network reception is good although the phone doesn’t support 4G carrier aggregation.

Security

The usual unlocking methods PIN and Pattern are available on Micromax In 2B. Along with that, you get a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner at a price tag where not many smartphone makers integrate it. The FPS is snappy and works best when compared to another unlocking method aka 2D-based face unlock which is snappy but it isn’t that secure.

Pros 

• 5000 mAh battery
• 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant
• 13MP AI camera
• Fast Fingerprint sensor
• 3-in-one SIM SLot

Cons

• Android 10
• No dust and water resistance